Now Commenting On:

MLB investigated Schilling's 2008 PED claim

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling says a former staffer recommended using performance-enhancing drugs to recover from injury

By Evan Drellich

BOSTON -- Curt Schilling's claim that a Red Sox employee offered him performance-enhancing drugs in 2008 did not come into the public light until Wednesday, during a radio interview.

Major League Baseball, however, already knew.

"The club immediately notified us," league spokesperson Patrick Courtney said Thursday night. "We take these matters very seriously and an investigation was completed."

On Friday, MLB issued a statement: "At the time of the incident in question in 2008, the Boston Red Sox immediately reported the allegations to Major League Baseball as required by our investigative protocols. Once the Red Sox reported the matter, Major League Baseball assumed sole responsibility for the investigation. The Club handled the matter consistent with all MLB rules and requirements and in a manner that was above reproach.

"Major League Baseball thoroughly investigated the allegations and considers the matter closed."

The league did not release any findings of that investigation or whether the employee was fired as a result. According to Schilling, the person who made the offer is no longer with the Sox organization.

Schilling wrote on Twitter on Thursday that the employee "wasn't anyone in uniform, nor the baseball ops group" -- meaning Schilling exonerated former Sox manager Terry Francona, former general manager Theo Epstein and his teammates at the time.

"At the end of my career, in 2008 when I had gotten hurt, there was a conversation that I was involved in in which it was brought to my attention that this is a potential path I might want to pursue," Schilling said during Wednesday's appearance on ESPN Radio.

@dankelley617 Because outing the person would not do anything for anyone. It wasn't anyone in uniform, nor the baseball ops group

"It was an incredibly uncomfortable conversation, because it came up in the midst of a group of people," he continued. "The other people weren't in the conversation, but they could clearly hear the conversation. And it was suggested to me that, at my age and in my situation, why not? What did I have to lose? Because if I wasn't going to get healthy, it didn't matter, and if I did get healthy, great."

Schilling also added, "It caught me off guard, to say the least," a sentiment Red Sox president Larry Lucchino shared on Thursday morning at an event.

"I'll reserve judgment on [Schilling's statement] until I hear a little bit more," Lucchino said. "Certainly it's something to look into, but it came from out of left field, to use a baseball cliche."

Schilling didn't pitch in 2008 because of right shoulder problems, and he retired in March a year later. The year in question would have been Schilling's age-41 season.

Schilling's revelation arrives in the midst of the Biogenesis scandal, which allegedly involves multiple Major Leaguers and a now closed anti-aging clinic in Miami run by Anthony Bosch. Some around the game, like D-backs reliever and union representative Brad Ziegler, as well as Padres manager Bud Black, have called for a more stringent PED policy in the wake of the news.

"I haven't followed the most recent development very closely," Lucchino said of Biogenesis. "I know that there's no one more committed to the eradication of all this than [Commissioner Bud Selig]. He really has led the charge of the last eight or 10 years. So if there's a need for something, he'll be on the forefront."

Evan Drellich is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @EvanDrellich. Paul Hagen contributed to this report. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.